In the deep blue sea, In the
deep of the blue, Swam a fish who could wish, And each wish would
come true.

He wished for a castle, He wished for a car, But one day he
wished Just a little too far...

THE WISHES OF A FISH This
books is printed on high quality paper, which is pleasantly smooth to the touch.

Korky Paul's illustrations fill each page with colour and lively
interest. THE FISH WHO COULD WISH is a book in which the text and drawings are
almost inseparable - each complementing each other.

The wittily drawn facial expressions and posture of the fish thinking out
his wishes are particularly entertaining.

The story is a mixture of fun and fantasy. John Bush has given his
imagination full-reign in describing some of the dotty, yet delightful wishes
made by the fish.

He wishes for a castle, a car and to go out and ski (this wish brings
about a week-long snow fall under the sea).

Although the fish can wish for anything he likes, he omits to wish, like
Solomon, for wisdom. This lack of sense brings about a last and unfortunate
wish which the fish lives to regret.

THE FISH WHO COULD WISH is a lovely book which will be enjoyed by
children as young as five-years-old. It would also make a good addition to any
junior primary school library, because of the relatively short text to picture
ratio.CAPE TIMES SATURDAY REVIEW 3 SEPT 91, Shonagh Williams

A
happy story with a moral about wasted opportunity - told simply against a
background of cheerful, lively illustrations - gives this childrens' book an
edge over those with which it competes. Ideal to spread the joy to be found in
the world of print. 20 SEPT 91, EJH

The poem providing the text for this picture book 'swishes' along. The fish -
who is quite a character - has plenty of wishes and the lively illustrations
extend them in all ways. They are lively, colourful, imaginative pictures with
a lot of wit. The one showing a hunting pack of sharks got dog-eared very
quickly! This is a great book for sharing with a class, and for the children to
enjoy on their own.RECENT CHILDREN'S FICTION VOLUME 31 WINTER 91/92 Sue Stops

A
jaunty orange-yellow fish with a bulging, knowing eye and expressive fins and
tail stands out in a watery backing of muted greens and blues and acts out a
neat parody of folk tale where extravagant wishes (for a turreted castle, a
dashing sports car, 'a horse and a spanish guitar' and more ambitious
life-styles) conclude in disaster because the foolish fish, weary at last of
changing shapes and sizes, incautiously wishes he could be like his fellow-fish,
so losing his mysterious power. Lively doggerel verse spells out the tale and
its moral while a final end-paper clinches everything with a portrait of a
rueful fish emitting bubbles of disappointment. A good joke cunningly promoted.GROWING POINT JULY 91, John Beck

A
story in rhyme of 'A fish who could wish / And each wish could come true'. His
wishes are mostly unsuitable for they include a car, a castle, a horse and a
snowy slope on which to ski under the sea. Only very occasionally does he think
of a sensible wish and the one thing he never wishes is to be wise! His last
wish is his final one for he wishes to be like all the other fish. As none of
them is able to wish, neither can he any more.

The illustrations to this bizarre exercise of imagination are
suitably fantastic. Korky Paul is a popular artist, winner of the Children's
Book Award for his illustrations to WINNIE THE WITCH.
THE JUNIOR BOOKSHELF JUNE 91, EC

I
have always thought that illustrator Korky Paul sounds like a character from
Dandy. His work is lively and cartoon-like, with witty detail and bright
colours. His picture-book THE FISH WHO COULD WISH is about a red-and-yellow
fish whose every wish is granted.

The fish dreams up a baroque-gothic underwater castle with sharks
circling the pinnacles, a yellow convertible (with fins) roaring from a clump of
waterweed, an underwater snow-scene - with snowman in snorkelling gear - and a
whole wardrobe of zoot-suits. Alas, the talented fish never wishes for wisdom,
and loses its gift through sheer stupidity.HAMPSTEAD & HIGHGATE EXPRESS 11 MAR 94, Jenny Woolf